Off topic:
To Wretched fucking angry gu:
WOW, your F****** is very good.
:)
To Wretched fucking angry gu:
WOW, your F****** is very good.
:)
The decline of America vs. the decline of English
Alright, Uriel....now you've confirmed what I always thought exactly what you thought about the lot of us here in these highly complex and perplexingly perfidious wee islands......that we're insane. It would be difficult to deny it I reckon, looking at us from afar and the way we act and behave.....even our close neighbours the French think as you do and always have done.
You can pack a whole lot of Englands and Scotlands and Waleses* into both Texas and California, plus a few more States, and still have some space left over and on that basis you could say that those American States have a better claim to individual "country" status than any of the four UK component parts, but ours have been in existence aeons before yours, so we can claim priority for historical reasons alone!
We Brits will never think differently on this one, therefore confirming the French belief, and probably that of your compatriots as well, that the British are stubborn, pig-headed and totally irrational.
*I'm not sure what other plural for Wales we can concoct.....Waleses is the most obvious, as that is the form the UK media use when referring to the Prince of Wales and his family...the Waleses. I know it sounds awkward, but the poor old Prince comes across that way sometimes, poor bloke!
In the British military where all the Wales princes have either served or still serve are officially called Charles Wales, William Wales and Henry Wales, as opposed to Windsor. Don't ask me how this is, I'm just a simple Scot and can never quite fathom out just how the English Establishment operates much of the time....I think they just toss coins a lot of the time.
There actually is a family surname Wales as it happens....think of Charlie Wales, an American suffering extreme personal problems in the 1920s and 1930s, who was also connected with F Scott-Fitzgerald, and who later went to Paris and was featured in a book called "Babylon Revisited" relating all his exploits in the French capital, and later the subject of the song "The Last Time I Saw Paris" popular at the start of WW2 both in the US and the UK.
You can pack a whole lot of Englands and Scotlands and Waleses* into both Texas and California, plus a few more States, and still have some space left over and on that basis you could say that those American States have a better claim to individual "country" status than any of the four UK component parts, but ours have been in existence aeons before yours, so we can claim priority for historical reasons alone!
We Brits will never think differently on this one, therefore confirming the French belief, and probably that of your compatriots as well, that the British are stubborn, pig-headed and totally irrational.
*I'm not sure what other plural for Wales we can concoct.....Waleses is the most obvious, as that is the form the UK media use when referring to the Prince of Wales and his family...the Waleses. I know it sounds awkward, but the poor old Prince comes across that way sometimes, poor bloke!
In the British military where all the Wales princes have either served or still serve are officially called Charles Wales, William Wales and Henry Wales, as opposed to Windsor. Don't ask me how this is, I'm just a simple Scot and can never quite fathom out just how the English Establishment operates much of the time....I think they just toss coins a lot of the time.
There actually is a family surname Wales as it happens....think of Charlie Wales, an American suffering extreme personal problems in the 1920s and 1930s, who was also connected with F Scott-Fitzgerald, and who later went to Paris and was featured in a book called "Babylon Revisited" relating all his exploits in the French capital, and later the subject of the song "The Last Time I Saw Paris" popular at the start of WW2 both in the US and the UK.
trendyman Mon Aug 03, 2009 11:23 am GMT
Not at all! English is already an universal language, the whole world adopted it. So, regardless of the America's decline from now on, it will still remain popular.
====================
Think again!
English is already an universal language????
Who told you so?
In China there are billions of people who don't speak English!
Not at all! English is already an universal language, the whole world adopted it. So, regardless of the America's decline from now on, it will still remain popular.
====================
Think again!
English is already an universal language????
Who told you so?
In China there are billions of people who don't speak English!
EU Mon Aug 03, 2009 12:58 pm GMT
I really don't think so. America is not the only developed country which speaks English but also England, Canada, Ireland,Australia and New Zeland. Also in the group of the developing countries you have important countries which speak English like India (English is offical) and South Africa.
But I think other language will be important too like, Chinese in Asia, French and Arabic in West africa and Middle east, Spanish in Latin America, German in Europe and Russian Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
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KT Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:51 pm GMT
Indians don't speak English any more than Germans do. If anything Indians in General speak worse English than Germans.
===================================
I agree with KT!
At the most, Shuimo regards English used in India as a shoddy secondary third-rate version!
I really don't think so. America is not the only developed country which speaks English but also England, Canada, Ireland,Australia and New Zeland. Also in the group of the developing countries you have important countries which speak English like India (English is offical) and South Africa.
But I think other language will be important too like, Chinese in Asia, French and Arabic in West africa and Middle east, Spanish in Latin America, German in Europe and Russian Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
------------------------
KT Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:51 pm GMT
Indians don't speak English any more than Germans do. If anything Indians in General speak worse English than Germans.
===================================
I agree with KT!
At the most, Shuimo regards English used in India as a shoddy secondary third-rate version!
Shuimo Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:51 pm GMT
There's currently no other language that could reasonably replace English. Maybe things will be different in two hundred years or so, but don't expect Chinese to become important before their culture changes and those strange symbols are replaced with some kind of phonetic/phonemic alphabet.
======================
This shoddy Shuimo Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:51 pm GMT, who told you that? Yr brainwashed western media?
There's currently no other language that could reasonably replace English. Maybe things will be different in two hundred years or so, but don't expect Chinese to become important before their culture changes and those strange symbols are replaced with some kind of phonetic/phonemic alphabet.
======================
This shoddy Shuimo Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:51 pm GMT, who told you that? Yr brainwashed western media?
I doubt very much that English will globally decline in status even when China becomes the world's No 1 Superpower, economically, commercially, militarily and perhaps culturally as well....as it most probably will.
==========
You fail to give any compelling reasons at all!
==========
You fail to give any compelling reasons at all!
English is the language of computers.
There are countries where english is not well taught or spoken but those people from those countries who use internet, write on forum and chat know english pretty well. The future is in the computer technology: we are already learning through the net (you can attend university from the net) buying through the net, making friends through the net, find the love of our life through the net, working through the net, acting and casting through the net...
English is the official language of the interner population, a new bounderless nationality, the first virtual nation and one that's never ever going to decline.
There are countries where english is not well taught or spoken but those people from those countries who use internet, write on forum and chat know english pretty well. The future is in the computer technology: we are already learning through the net (you can attend university from the net) buying through the net, making friends through the net, find the love of our life through the net, working through the net, acting and casting through the net...
English is the official language of the interner population, a new bounderless nationality, the first virtual nation and one that's never ever going to decline.
<<Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and, of course, England are indeed component parts of a single entity - the United Kingdom - but at the same time they really are countries in their own right, even now under the current British Constitution. Each one is different from any of the others in character, and even in Language, although English is the dominant Language in all four, of course.
They were quite independent countries at one time, long before the idea of a single United Kingdom under one Crown was even thought of, and they really are separate countries even now, with their own local governing bodies, such as the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, while still under the overall jurisdiction of the Westminster Parliament. They are always referred to as individual countries in their own right - the four countries of the UK.
You cannot call them mere Regions, as Scotland in particular is divided into Regions, and to call Scotland a Region instead of a Country when it is a Country made up of Regions would be tantamount to insanity.
When driving from England into either Scotland or Wales you are really aware that you are no longer in England because many things appear to be "different". This is because you have travelled out of one country and into another.>>
Excellent explanation Damian London, spot on!
:)
They were quite independent countries at one time, long before the idea of a single United Kingdom under one Crown was even thought of, and they really are separate countries even now, with their own local governing bodies, such as the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, while still under the overall jurisdiction of the Westminster Parliament. They are always referred to as individual countries in their own right - the four countries of the UK.
You cannot call them mere Regions, as Scotland in particular is divided into Regions, and to call Scotland a Region instead of a Country when it is a Country made up of Regions would be tantamount to insanity.
When driving from England into either Scotland or Wales you are really aware that you are no longer in England because many things appear to be "different". This is because you have travelled out of one country and into another.>>
Excellent explanation Damian London, spot on!
:)
Almost missed this one!
<<It is so ridiculous how stupid people are. It's amazing that universities can decry this situation of graduates who can't spell or do shit all, and yet the idiotic education ministers do flying fuck all about it. Is it really that difficult to comprehend? How the fuck can they not realise that they MUST teach grammar and punctuation in school and other basic things like writing and reading. It is NOT omittable. That's all there is too it! Why the fuck are they so obsessed with dumbing EVERYTHING down. Why?! What benefit can possibly come out of it?! Why are English classes these days all about fun, games and easy passes?! School is not supposed to be ALL about having fun and developing social skills, which seems to be the new 'in' thing in the education industry. It doesn't even work for shit because social skills today are the same if not worse than ever, so they've basically been wasting time for no result. Those assholes are so fucking thick! Why are they so hell-bent on bringing the Western world to its knees?!
JUST TEACH ENGLISH AGAIN YOU FUCKING MORONS!! GET IT THROUGH YOUR FUCKING THICK HEADS!!!! WHAT DO YOU NOT FUCKING UNDERSTAND!!!!
My English is rather bad and I often have problems and I blame this on the ridiculously fucked up education system. For example, not once in my life have I learnt when you are supposed to put fucking hyphens in compound (?) words. NOT FUCKING ONCE WAS IT EVER MENTIONED IN SCHOOL, despite the fact that these words are god(-)damned everywhere. I'm not fucking stupid either. I'm no English nut or anything but I read a reasonable amount, I just don't notice these things when reading. I have a university degree so I'm at least not brain damaged, and while I admit that my degree counts for shit (because not only English is dumbed down) at least I surely must have the right to call myself 'educated' (by today's standards). So fuck you ministers of fucking education!
By the way, excuse my French... >>
Well put.
+1
<<It is so ridiculous how stupid people are. It's amazing that universities can decry this situation of graduates who can't spell or do shit all, and yet the idiotic education ministers do flying fuck all about it. Is it really that difficult to comprehend? How the fuck can they not realise that they MUST teach grammar and punctuation in school and other basic things like writing and reading. It is NOT omittable. That's all there is too it! Why the fuck are they so obsessed with dumbing EVERYTHING down. Why?! What benefit can possibly come out of it?! Why are English classes these days all about fun, games and easy passes?! School is not supposed to be ALL about having fun and developing social skills, which seems to be the new 'in' thing in the education industry. It doesn't even work for shit because social skills today are the same if not worse than ever, so they've basically been wasting time for no result. Those assholes are so fucking thick! Why are they so hell-bent on bringing the Western world to its knees?!
JUST TEACH ENGLISH AGAIN YOU FUCKING MORONS!! GET IT THROUGH YOUR FUCKING THICK HEADS!!!! WHAT DO YOU NOT FUCKING UNDERSTAND!!!!
My English is rather bad and I often have problems and I blame this on the ridiculously fucked up education system. For example, not once in my life have I learnt when you are supposed to put fucking hyphens in compound (?) words. NOT FUCKING ONCE WAS IT EVER MENTIONED IN SCHOOL, despite the fact that these words are god(-)damned everywhere. I'm not fucking stupid either. I'm no English nut or anything but I read a reasonable amount, I just don't notice these things when reading. I have a university degree so I'm at least not brain damaged, and while I admit that my degree counts for shit (because not only English is dumbed down) at least I surely must have the right to call myself 'educated' (by today's standards). So fuck you ministers of fucking education!
By the way, excuse my French... >>
Well put.
+1
Yes, it is clear English is coming to an end. You can see it from a lot of small details. For example, American metal band Metallica is planning to release a new series of albums where they will be singing in Chinese. The lyrics will mostly be about communism, censorship, and rice with dog sauce. They expect the biggest hit will be - 碩士筷子 - which means "Master of Chopsticks".
The Beatles are thinking of doing the same. They announced they'll soon be singing in Chinese, and they are changing the original lyrics a bit as well. John Lennon said "Just because I'm dead, doesn't mean I can't sing - Singing in Chinese makes me feel alive". Let's get ready for amazing masterpieces such as "All you need is Rice" and "Lucy in Tibet with Molotovs". When asked if such Chinese songs would be great hits in English-speaking countries as well, Paul McCartney replied "I believe so, our fans can use Google translator to understand the lyrics". He went on to say "We don't need to know Chinese after all, we use Google translator ourselves".
There are a lot of stories like this, and it's all true. Another interesting one is about Obama's decision to introduce "chopstick class" into compulsory education. It'll be needed "in order to get ready to our merger with China", he said. Children had better eat rice at least twice a week, in order to practice at home too. If a kid fails that class... "They'd better not fail it!" Obama shouted angrily. Then he mumbled something incomprehensible in Chinese, which sounded more or less like "記者太愛管閒事。是不是我們的刑場準備好了嗎？" which it turned out to mean "This reporter is too nosy. Isn't our torture chamber ready yet?".
All this is fucking true. You don't believe me? Ok, fine. But when you find yourself crying in pain because your new Chinese teacher is torturing you with scorpions, remember I once warned you, dude. This is true shit.
The Beatles are thinking of doing the same. They announced they'll soon be singing in Chinese, and they are changing the original lyrics a bit as well. John Lennon said "Just because I'm dead, doesn't mean I can't sing - Singing in Chinese makes me feel alive". Let's get ready for amazing masterpieces such as "All you need is Rice" and "Lucy in Tibet with Molotovs". When asked if such Chinese songs would be great hits in English-speaking countries as well, Paul McCartney replied "I believe so, our fans can use Google translator to understand the lyrics". He went on to say "We don't need to know Chinese after all, we use Google translator ourselves".
There are a lot of stories like this, and it's all true. Another interesting one is about Obama's decision to introduce "chopstick class" into compulsory education. It'll be needed "in order to get ready to our merger with China", he said. Children had better eat rice at least twice a week, in order to practice at home too. If a kid fails that class... "They'd better not fail it!" Obama shouted angrily. Then he mumbled something incomprehensible in Chinese, which sounded more or less like "記者太愛管閒事。是不是我們的刑場準備好了嗎？" which it turned out to mean "This reporter is too nosy. Isn't our torture chamber ready yet?".
All this is fucking true. You don't believe me? Ok, fine. But when you find yourself crying in pain because your new Chinese teacher is torturing you with scorpions, remember I once warned you, dude. This is true shit.
<<When driving from England into either Scotland or Wales you are really aware that you are no longer in England>>
When I visited Scotland I didn't perceive obvious differences. People seemed the same, weather was the same, they drive on the left side... People who live there may be aware of such differences because they are oversensitive to even the minor detail that separates England from Scotland, but these are invisible for the untrained eye. As in every country there are differences from region to region, not only in Great Britain but in France, Germany, Italy, etc... Scotland is a province of Great Britain for practical purposes no matter what the Scotish say.
When I visited Scotland I didn't perceive obvious differences. People seemed the same, weather was the same, they drive on the left side... People who live there may be aware of such differences because they are oversensitive to even the minor detail that separates England from Scotland, but these are invisible for the untrained eye. As in every country there are differences from region to region, not only in Great Britain but in France, Germany, Italy, etc... Scotland is a province of Great Britain for practical purposes no matter what the Scotish say.
The Observer (as Pooh)
Guest (as Piglet)
...
**Piglet posts.
Pooh : Oh bother!
** Pooh stuffs Piglet into a honey jar and tosses him off a cliff
Piglet : Ooooh de de de de de de de dddeeeaaarr!!
Guest (as Piglet)
...
**Piglet posts.
Pooh : Oh bother!
** Pooh stuffs Piglet into a honey jar and tosses him off a cliff
Piglet : Ooooh de de de de de de de dddeeeaaarr!!
***When I visited Scotland I didn't perceive obvious differences***
Oh come on, stop teasing! Or are you perhaps just a wee bit less observant than the average person? Once you've crossed over the border from England into Scotland, assuming you're travelling by road, you only have to come to the first town or even village to be aware of some pretty significant differences from what you'd see in similar places you'd left behind in Engand - an excellent example would the the wee town of Jedburgh*, only about about ten miles or so into Scotland on the A68 from the border at Carter Bar (which is not a pub btw...it's just a name for the area).
Two very important differences - in the main street no more HSBC Bank and National Westminster Bank, using just two such organisations - instead it's the Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank. You will no longer pass the local Magistrate's Court - it would the Sheriff's Office instead, basically they are the same thing but operate under quite different legal systems.
Drop into one of the shops in Jedburgh and hand over a Bank of England £10 note in exchange for your goods, and the £5 note you get back in your change will most probably be drawn on a Scottish bank. The shop assistant will have a very distinct Scottish accent, unlike his/her counterpart who served you when you stopped to fill up with petrol and buy some nosh a few miles back in England. The changed"accent thing" is as clear cut as that most of the time when crossing back and forth from England into Scotland and vice versa of course.
The very best example of that is when you cross the border further east, on the A697.....in the English village of Cornhill, in Northumberland, most of the local people have an English accent similar to Geordie, as this is the extreme edge of North East England. Less than two miles further along the road andyou come to the River Tweed, which forms the border between England and Scotland. You cross over the bridge and see the huge "Welcome to Scotland" sign, and once into Scotland the road turns sharply to the left and you are in the town of Coldstream, in the Scottish Borders Region. Stop off there and all you hear are very clear Scottish accents, and those Scottish banks grace the main street, as well as loads of shops selling tartan bedecked bric a brac and souvenirs of Scotland, and the lady who serves you with bannocks and tea will most probably have one of the broadest of Scottish accents you've ever heard. And no doubt she will give you a Scottish fiver back in your change.
Welcome to Scotland.....England is back there on the other side of the babbling, meandering River Tweed and yes, the fabric IS named after the area......
BTW...Mary Queen of Scots had a home in Jedburgh...it's now a kind of museum open to the public, one of our Scottish heroines and revered to this day.
Oh come on, stop teasing! Or are you perhaps just a wee bit less observant than the average person? Once you've crossed over the border from England into Scotland, assuming you're travelling by road, you only have to come to the first town or even village to be aware of some pretty significant differences from what you'd see in similar places you'd left behind in Engand - an excellent example would the the wee town of Jedburgh*, only about about ten miles or so into Scotland on the A68 from the border at Carter Bar (which is not a pub btw...it's just a name for the area).
Two very important differences - in the main street no more HSBC Bank and National Westminster Bank, using just two such organisations - instead it's the Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank. You will no longer pass the local Magistrate's Court - it would the Sheriff's Office instead, basically they are the same thing but operate under quite different legal systems.
Drop into one of the shops in Jedburgh and hand over a Bank of England £10 note in exchange for your goods, and the £5 note you get back in your change will most probably be drawn on a Scottish bank. The shop assistant will have a very distinct Scottish accent, unlike his/her counterpart who served you when you stopped to fill up with petrol and buy some nosh a few miles back in England. The changed"accent thing" is as clear cut as that most of the time when crossing back and forth from England into Scotland and vice versa of course.
The very best example of that is when you cross the border further east, on the A697.....in the English village of Cornhill, in Northumberland, most of the local people have an English accent similar to Geordie, as this is the extreme edge of North East England. Less than two miles further along the road andyou come to the River Tweed, which forms the border between England and Scotland. You cross over the bridge and see the huge "Welcome to Scotland" sign, and once into Scotland the road turns sharply to the left and you are in the town of Coldstream, in the Scottish Borders Region. Stop off there and all you hear are very clear Scottish accents, and those Scottish banks grace the main street, as well as loads of shops selling tartan bedecked bric a brac and souvenirs of Scotland, and the lady who serves you with bannocks and tea will most probably have one of the broadest of Scottish accents you've ever heard. And no doubt she will give you a Scottish fiver back in your change.
Welcome to Scotland.....England is back there on the other side of the babbling, meandering River Tweed and yes, the fabric IS named after the area......
BTW...Mary Queen of Scots had a home in Jedburgh...it's now a kind of museum open to the public, one of our Scottish heroines and revered to this day.